Some hard truths about starting a field

I've worked at a field, it is hard
people don't see us cleaning guns,the compressor,unloading paint, etc
I couldn't imagine running one
The field i worked at was awsome for about 10-14 years
and we starting to die down because of the compotition in the area

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Funniest, maybe best advice I was given before I drank the cooll aid? Don't do it!

LOL, enough said. Of course I did it anyway. Bought into paintball, that is. My favorite saying is that Paintball is full of people going in and out of business. It makes it hard for the rest of us.

Yes cost is important. It's important to know the market value and try to stick to it. Yes undercuttiing does damage your business. When the other guy does it to you and then when you do it to yourself.

Yes quality is important. The market determines just how much that makes a difference to your business. You don't get a vote!

The short of it is yes you can make money, but usually not enough to live on. Only a relatively select group can do that, If you are in this, it's for the game. Love of the game. If you go in with your eyes open and plan accordingly it can be a very satisfyingy experience.

ok so heres my situation. i am 20 years old and have pretty much ran a paintball business for about 3 years, played for 5. while the owner was stuck behind the register collecting money i was out and about cleaning, reffing, repairing, building, etc. only thing i havnt done is tech work. do to certain things his business has depleted greatly and may be forced into closing after 10 years. paintball is what i know and love so i plan on openign up my own field. the location i have chosen is my home town. the closest field west is over 2 hours, closest field east is 1 hour, no fields close north/south, and the closest indoor field is 4 hours away. these fields are run down dumps owned by scamming punks, but because they are the only ones around are making a killin. WAY over pricing their products and taking advantage of ppl of all ages who simply love the sport. so i personally have no problem in persuading ppl my way. the land i have chosen is an old fairground located right off a major route and is in the middle of 3 cities. it has a HUGE building i could easily fit 2 or 3 5 man fields in + has kitchen. and obviously huge outdoor potential. no woods tho wich could be a minor bad thing. the owner was forced into closing it down and is unable to sell his land because the town will not permit it. however i may be able to lease this land. i have talked to him and he has partially agreed to lease me it for his monthly taxes, wich by my estimates should be alot less than buying land and having to pay all that extra dow. he partially agreed by telling me that its a good idea but will have to look into the paintball thing and told me to finish my school and get back to him if i still want to go thru with it. starting in january i am attending business school so i can learn the business side of owning a business and have a better outlook on my pb idea. plus if it dont work out i have many other options available. i plan on gettin a small business loan for all the things ill need plus i have a successful business friend who is willing to help me out with my chosen career. so to cap i have location, money, knowledge and resources covered. only problem i see is i want to go all out. i would like to have those 2 or 3 indoor fields with a kitchen. and have an X amount of outdoor courses. i feel like im leaving alot of info out. so... ok what do you all think about this? sound like im on a good path? it could work? ask questions, gimme info.

ok so heres my situation. i am 20 years old and have pretty much ran a paintball business for about 3 years, played for 5. while the owner was stuck behind the register collecting money i was out and about cleaning, reffing, repairing, building, etc. only thing i havnt done is tech work. do to certain things his business has depleted greatly and may be forced into closing after 10 years. paintball is what i know and love so i plan on openign up my own field. the location i have chosen is my home town. the closest field west is over 2 hours, closest field east is 1 hour, no fields close north/south, and the closest indoor field is 4 hours away. these fields are run down dumps owned by scamming punks, but because they are the only ones around are making a killin. WAY over pricing their products and taking advantage of ppl of all ages who simply love the sport. so i personally have no problem in persuading ppl my way. the land i have chosen is an old fairground located right off a major route and is in the middle of 3 cities. it has a HUGE building i could easily fit 2 or 3 5 man fields in + has kitchen. and obviously huge outdoor potential. no woods tho wich could be a minor bad thing. the owner was forced into closing it down and is unable to sell his land because the town will not permit it. however i may be able to lease this land. i have talked to him and he has partially agreed to lease me it for his monthly taxes, wich by my estimates should be alot less than buying land and having to pay all that extra dow. he partially agreed by telling me that its a good idea but will have to look into the paintball thing and told me to finish my school and get back to him if i still want to go thru with it. starting in january i am attending business school so i can learn the business side of owning a business and have a better outlook on my pb idea. plus if it dont work out i have many other options available. i plan on gettin a small business loan for all the things ill need plus i have a successful business friend who is willing to help me out with my chosen career. so to cap i have location, money, knowledge and resources covered. only problem i see is i want to go all out. i would like to have those 2 or 3 indoor fields with a kitchen. and have an X amount of outdoor courses. i feel like im leaving alot of info out. so... ok what do you all think about this? sound like im on a good path? it could work? ask questions, gimme info.

p.s. sorry for the paragraph.

Why do you think the field that you worked for had to close down? What are the fields East and West of you charging and how busy are they? How close are you and how close are the others to the major population centres?

Oh, and the only thing you need to be sorry about your paragraph, is the lack of proper grammer and pumctuation, which made it very dificult to read. I'm not sure why I did but usually I don't finish reading posts that are that difficult to read.

Why do you think the field that you worked for had to close down? What are the fields East and West of you charging and how busy are they? How close are you and how close are the others to the major population centres?

Oh, and the only thing you need to be sorry about your paragraph, is the lack of proper grammer and pumctuation, which made it very dificult to read. I'm not sure why I did but usually I don't finish reading posts that are that difficult to read.

if you can understand it then what does it mattter if its missing a few points of punctuation
he probably had to type quick

It implies apathy and a lack of professionalism. If you want people to take you seriously, then you should approach them in a serious way. The grammar is certainly better than a lot of posts I've seen on the Nation, but, as Horizon inferred(sorry if I'm putting words in your mouth Horizon) and any good HR manager will tell you, first impressions and professionalism matter. Your age is a disadvantage to you. Many people often won't take younger people seriously because of the way they present themselves and their past experiences with young people. If you're serious about going through with this and, assuming you have your "stuff" together, don't give someone a stupid excuse to not take you seriously. Best of luck to you.

You are making a big assumption here; Knowledge. I can't judge you well from afar. My advice is that you not assume that you have all the knowledge. Your post informs me that you may not. Your experience does not come from understanding the financial aspects. These are critical.

[horizon]
I think that this field will be closing because lack of business skills and the fact that the competition is located in the middle of cities. this field is located hours from civilization. teams would rather go and play against many other teams every weekend than come and practice against themselves. the field next to me is charging $20 entree and $65-$80 case a paint. their paint you can buy wholesale for $25-$30 case. i havnt been east in a long time so not sure. plan on visiting many fields tho. the other fields are located in the middle of busy cities. mine would be located in a populated suburb areas off a major route but is also smack dab in the middle of major cities. i plan on having better fields and paint thats worth the 80 bux. that alone i know i can get customers. a baller will travel HOURS to play at a good field, wit good paint and planty of competition. i know this first hand.

P.S. it was 5 in the morning i had just gotten out of work. i was extremely tired. plus this is just 1 of many forums i post in so im not to concerned about my grammar and punctution. plus i suck at it so i dont try.

[carolina]
thanks man

[minnesota]
i completely agree with everthing u said. i run into that crap all the time.

[kefarris] what i meant by knowledge is i used to work for a field part/full time for 3 years. cept the business end i think i have a rough idea on what it will take to opperate a successful paintball park. and the financial aspects. well thats exactly what im going to school for.

Since you have no woods, i would put alot into building a very nice big (acre sized) rec city field. This will copmensate for the rec players who are not into xball. Make some nice buildings using plywood and 2x4 (you can build a big field pretty cheap. a field here that closed due to the owner of the land selling it to be developed for alot more than the field owner could pay (7 million lol) had a great "city" field. It had about 7 or 8 big 8'x4' up tp 12'x8' buildings (just plywood in a square with windows and doors cut out. nice big speedball typ plywood bunkers. No spools and no hyperball which is key, rec ballers seem to like big nice bunkers.

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[horizon]
I think that this field will be closing because lack of business skills

P.S. it was 5 in the morning i had just gotten out of work. i was extremely tired. plus this is just 1 of many forums i post in so im not to concerned about my grammar and punctution. plus i suck at it so i dont try.

You don't want to assume on why the field is closing, you want to know. The reasoning could be "owner cause" but it could be something else, ask him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by epiCpaintball

[carolina]
thanks man

[minnesota]
i completely agree with everthing u said. i run into that crap all the time.

You show appreciation to someone who supports your [shown] ignorance. Then "completely agree" with someone that explained why you shouldn't show ignorance in this forum.

In which ever other non-business based forums you post in professionalism (i.e. grammer, spelling, punctuation, ect.....) problebly isn't that important. But when you are seeking advise on starting a business you need to look somewhat intelligent at all times or else people will not take you seriously,help or even pay attention. As Horizon stated he normally doesn't finish reading posts he has to put alot of effort into reading, he's not the only one, and you might be thinking "I don't give a crap about what you guys have to say about it, I don't need you to read my post and I don't need your help." But yes you do, thats why you are here, you do need their help.

If you don't have the time, inclination, or ability to look somewhat professional then you might want to look at a less thought provoking career path. Self employment has an enormous failure rate and the seemingly un-important issue can ruin you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by epiCpaintball

[kefarris] what i meant by knowledge is i used to work for a field part/full time for 3 years. cept the business end i think i have a rough idea on what it will take to opperate a successful paintball park. and the financial aspects. well thats exactly what im going to school for.

It's good that you are planning to get educated on the subjects you don't know. If the field does close they try and sit down and talk to the owner about the things he did right & the things he wishes he could do over again. Write it all down and keep an open mind, review it many times and think about the things you don't think you want to do, they might be best for business.

You were kind of vague about some of you plan, you need to make sure you appeal mostly to rec/walk-on players that's where you will make the $$ to sustain a business. The biggest hurtle I have had to face with getting going is a business plan, I would advise starting one now and update/revise as you learn things about your chosen path.

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Advice for the thread: "how to open a paintball store"NastyShock3r: hey guy's i live in miami i need help to open a paintball store can anyone help or can tell me what i need to do?midstatepaintball: That's easy! Just push on the front door of the store if it says "push", or pull on the door if it says "pull".

[generalee]
the reason the field is going under is because of location. We're in nowhere their in city. He also has no business plan. He pretty much just winged it the whole time. I just didn't want to bash him. Once the field does close, which will probably be spring, I do plan on sitting with him.

I appreciated Carolina for standing up for me. And I understood what Minnesota was talking about being professional in forums such as this. I currently work in a mill where I am the youngest employee by 7 years, atleast. so I get treated fairly poorly.

A life time of abbreviations and spellcheck has somewhat limited my writing capabilities. I understand the professionalism in grammar and punctuation. But I am unable to help that now. Hopefully school will help me out. However, I am very knowledable/professional when I came to the customers and a good speaker.

Heres some random ideas. I don't know if they're the best but. if I can fit 3 fields inside have 2 speedball fields plus a good size rec field. Outside maybe 1 or 2 speedball fields and make really decent size rec fields of different structures. I was thinking in winter from months nov or dec-apr have a season pass type deal. Change fields monthly or every other month cuz of the amount of fields I could have. The only thing that im really struggling with is employment. im not sure how I will decide how many of who I should hire for different positions. How did you guys go about this?

Something that I am sure whas mentioned in the middle somewhere is this fact.

Paintball is a Luxury Sport.

What that means to owners is that you need to KNOW who you are marketing to. I am in Real Estate and work with tons of first time home buyers. I do NOT dress up in a power suit to meat a 23/24 yr old couple thinking of buying a home. Also, when I work with my Executive Clients I do not show up in Khakis and a Polo.

Paintball is the same way. The majority of the time it is the well off Parents that are shelling out the money so what affects them, affects you. The Economy right now is DOWN. I would not suggest starting, or spending a significant amount of time on marketing your field through print ads. I would highly suggest you hunker down for the next 2 years and wait till people's confidence is back up and spending. We already know that this Christmas will be bad for most retail businesses (you know the people that sell paintball guns!) IF they are not selling product, you do not have NEW people stepping onto the field. No new people means, you are at the mercy of your current client roster.

If cost 10 times as much $ to attract NEW business then it does to work your current clients. If you have a field already, I would say you need to start marketing to those past clients, and having a "bring your friend" day and you get free rentals, or free box of paint and so on!

Also, paintball is a pin point expierence. People do not randomly walk up to a field not planning on playing. People show up to play, and you will need to make it possible. You are not a mall that people just come to when they are bored. They need to plan ahead, save money, and schedule a day when mom and dad can allow, or take them to the field.

It is a hard truth, but the father you are away from the parents, the less likely you are to get business.

So if you want to open a field.....spend the extra $$ to be closer to the major population then your competition. IF you can shave off 15 min of driving but costs you an extra $30k in land purchase.....DO IT!

You will be able to charge more then your competition, and drive your competition to die out. (yes we are a paintball community....just not with business.) Unfortunately when you open a field you become a business person, not a business friend. You are going to have to step on people's toes you may not want to.

Anyways.....just like the title says.....there are hard truths about starting ANY business or field.

So if you want to open a field.....spend the extra $$ to be closer to the major population then your competition. IF you can shave off 15 min of driving but costs you an extra $30k in land purchase.....DO IT!

Excellent advice. That is the entire theory behind my field. Bring it to the people.

I am 31 years old and have been an active paintballer for about 3 years. I play once per month with me nephew, and some friends. I spend alot of money. I am successful in business and make a nice income. When I go I spend on everything, I buy lunch, paint, marker, masks, tanks, accessories. I just want to play and have a good time. This past weekend I was at On Target Paintball in Pembroke, NJ. The field was nice the reffing staff was good. However I had an issue with my X7 it was leaking. I needed an air smith. The owner apologized and said no one could help me. So I took my marker apart in the parking lot, I dropped one of the trigger springs and couldn't find it. Long story short I went to Quickshot Paintball and purchased a new X7. Figured I might as well have a back up marker. I lost about an hour of play time due to this incident. The moral of the story is a serious rec/scenario player like myslelf is willuing to pay for service. I want refs who actually engauge players. Help shot players off, keep everyone honest and make sure we have a fun safe game. I want an air smith to help me when I have a problem. I want a store onsite to buy what I need. I don't need the biggest selection, But I need to be able to buy remotes, tanks and such a gew markers would be a good idea too. I want the site to be clean and netted well. I want staff in the picnic area keeping me safe and keeping games moving. I hapily pay $85 to $100 per case and buy 3 or 4 cases a day. But I want to feel like the extra money I pay for paint gets me something. I thought you guys might like to hear from a player.

I am 31 years old and have been an active paintballer for about 3 years. I play once per month with me nephew, and some friends. I spend alot of money. I am successful in business and make a nice income. When I go I spend on everything, I buy lunch, paint, marker, masks, tanks, accessories. I just want to play and have a good time. This past weekend I was at On Target Paintball in Pembroke, NJ. The field was nice the reffing staff was good. However I had an issue with my X7 it was leaking. I needed an air smith. The owner apologized and said no one could help me. So I took my marker apart in the parking lot, I dropped one of the trigger springs and couldn't find it. Long story short I went to Quickshot Paintball and purchased a new X7. Figured I might as well have a back up marker. I lost about an hour of play time due to this incident. The moral of the story is a serious rec/scenario player like myslelf is willuing to pay for service. I want refs who actually engauge players. Help shot players off, keep everyone honest and make sure we have a fun safe game. I want an air smith to help me when I have a problem. I want a store onsite to buy what I need. I don't need the biggest selection, But I need to be able to buy remotes, tanks and such a gew markers would be a good idea too. I want the site to be clean and netted well. I want staff in the picnic area keeping me safe and keeping games moving. I hapily pay $85 to $100 per case and buy 3 or 4 cases a day. But I want to feel like the extra money I pay for paint gets me something. I thought you guys might like to hear from a player.

Chris

I hear you. And I believe every field should strive to have virtually all the things you mention.

Unfortunately, unless there is a huge market in the area, field owners have to cut some corners in order to compete with other low priced/low service fields. I know from experience as a field owner, that you can have higher expenses to provide better service and be successful. But there is a limit of course. If the difference is too great and your market is not big enough, you will loose out on the majority of customers who feel they can't afford to pay for the extras.

Nice thread, Chris. When I started Paintball Indiana 62-SPLAT in 1994, the whole concept in central Indiana, and the market, was rather green for outdoor paintball. Good to see it still thriving 13 years later. What I haven't seen in the thread is the emphasis on marketing. Given everything else being done to the best of a field owner's ability, the business lives or dies by the marketing.

Given everything else being done to the best of a field owner's ability, the business lives or dies by the marketing.

Not necessarily. We had a local field here that was open for 10 years before we opened our field and was relatively successful for those 10 years without spending a dime on marketing during that time period (other that their yellow page ad). They ran a really decent, safe field and lived from word of mouth. But they had very little competition.

Having said that, we started marketing our field a little more aggressively the last two years and itís paid off for us. Sales are up close to 100% over those of 2 years ago.

The problem with most areas in North America is that paintball fields compete mostly on price and now prices are so low, with so little mark-up, there is very little, if any, money left for marketing. But I agree that marketing is quite important on top of having a good facility. All the marketing in the world is not going to save you if your paintball field leaves much to be desired.

I run a car dealership service department. In my experience price is rarely the issue. Value is. If you compete on price alone you will get the consumers you deserve. I reccomend establishing a good value to expense ratio. The largest field in my area with the best service is also by far the most expensive. Now any business model will tell you there is an economy of scale as a business gets larger it becomes less expensive to operate on an per consumer basis. They should be the least expensive, if one goes by the prevailing opinion of how to run a fild. However as the most expensive, they are able to provide service that is excellent. I for one am willing to pay. Many other people are willing to pay also. You guys should love that walmart sells cheap markers. That retailer and others like it will expose tens of thousands of people to paintball. After they purchase that entry level marker they will soon want to upgrade and that where the local paintball store comes in. The local field can explain the benefits of higher quality paint that they offer. I want service and value. If it costs $5.00 more per case for you to have an air smith, one more referee and a nicer picnic area. I think it will be a good investment for both the consumer and the field.